Bryan Singer to Take Swing at Excalibur?

· Bryan Singer is in talks with Warner Bros. to produce and potentially direct a remake of Excalibur, John Boorman's sort-of-great 1981 telling of the legend of King Arthur. It's too early to tell exactly what Singer has in mind or how this will coexist with his planned Battlestar Galactica adaptation, but everyone knows he's good with a sword, so let's just throw a congratulatory pool party and hope for the best. [BFDealMemo]

Catherine Hardwicke inherits a couple myths of her own, Billy Bob Thornton gets in the ring, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.

· Catherine Hardwicke is juggling a slate of directing gigs that now includes The Girl with the Red Riding Hood, a "gothic retelling" of the Red Riding Hood story with -- wait for it -- a teenage love triangle at its core. This is in addition to her upcoming Hamlet update, a 21 Jump Street adaptation, the young-adult drama If I Stay, and selling $20 signatures at Twilight fan conventions. Busy busy! [Variety]

· Billy Bob Thornton and director Ron Shelton will collaborate on Pound for Pound, a boxing drama based on the novel by F.X. Toole -- the former ringside cutman whose stories inspired Million Dollar Baby. The story deals with a depressed, widowed ex-boxer who takes a Latino up-and-comer under his wing after his grandson dies; male bonding and Oscar clips ensue. [THR]

· Universal commissioned a parallel script for its planned fourth Bourne series installment, recruiting Josh Zetumer to contribute a screenplay while original writer George Nolfi detours off for the studio's other Matt Damon offering The Adjustment Bureau. [THR]

· Sexual harassment, political infighting and personal vendettas: Just another day at the Screen Actors Guild. [THR]

Comments

Jeez Louise, would it kill any of these people to make a movie that was based on an actual original screenplay? I think it's time to call this reimagining and adaptng to the screen for the hackery that it is. Hardwicke and Singer, I'm talking to you!